How to Determine the Top Stocks to Buy and Hold for a Decade and Beyond

Long-term investing seems to be winning over short-term trading. However, it doesn’t mean every stock deserves your preference. Most of today’s stocks that are winning won’t have all it takes to perform for decades.

Therefore, you must do some homework and focus on companies that are best positioned for long-term investment.

Moreover, the stock market is the best place you can turn your valuable assets into wealth.

There’re several stocks that you can consider for long-term investment, but the fact that they are several of them requires time to understand them and determine the best.

The best stock is one that you have confidence for over a decade and beyond.

Things to Consider when Buying Stocks

You won’t want to invest in a stock where your money lies on balance, will you? Finding a stock to buy and then hold for an extended period requires a lot of time and research. Here are some of the things you can look for in a stock:

• The company’s revenue should be growing steadily
• The company must offer priced stocks that are reasonable
• There should be viable plans as well as goals for a continuous growth
• The company should have a stable position in the market
• The company should be committed to pay out some revenue to the shareholders as dividends

How to Determine the Best Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Investment

Examine the Price/Earnings Ratio

The P/E ratio will help you to determine whether the stock is either under or overvalued. The ratio is derived by simply dividing the price of the stock by the company’s earnings per share.

A company with a higher P/E ratio than competitors shows that investors are probably overpaying for each dollar earned, and hence the stocks are overvalued.

A low P/E ratio than the competitors indicates that the stocks are undervalued. Comparing a company against the P/E ratio of the industry is the easiest way to find whether its stocks are cheap.

For instance, if a company has a P/E ratio of nine and that of the industry is 14, then it shows the stock is undervalued and its valuation more attractive than the overall industry.

The Company’s Earning History

Due to the instability of the economy, when it’s strong, the earnings rise, and when it’s slow, the earnings fall.

Therefore, when buying a stock to hold for a long time, you should consider a stock that continuously grows over time.

Would you invest in a company headed for bankruptcy? Of course not with your hard-earned money just like that.

Therefore, you should evaluate the stock’s past as well as future earnings projections to determine whether it’s the best buy and that you can hold to it for several years to come.

Look at the company’s quarterly as well as annual reports to ascertain the same.

Dividend Payout Consistency

To help you understand that a company has certainty in earnings, look if it pays out consistently the dividends.

Furthermore, it shows the company is financially stable enough to pay a dividend. Ensure that the company has paid dividends for at least 5-20 years to ascertain consistency.

Understand the Economic Conditions

Stock trader averages sometimes are considered as a future economic indicator.

When there’s a weakness in the major stock market consistently, it’s an indication that probably the economy is going out, and earnings will likely start to fall.

Invest in Assets or Companies You Understand

The best stocks to buy and hold for the future are those with straightforward as well as easy to understand business models.

It’s the only way to estimate the future earnings of the company per share.

The best you can have is a clear understanding of a stock that you can easily forecast where it can be short, like 5 or 10 years. Otherwise, you don’t have to purchase the stock.

Final Thought

There’re several stocks in the market, but only a few are available that you can buy and hold.

It only requires discipline and patience. Understanding the company together with its history over the past few years is essential to determining the stock to buy as well as hold forever.